Infrared (IR) spectroscopy and flat plate capacitors were examined as potential methods for the determination of leaf water content as alternatives to the current pressure bomb method. Flat plate capacitors were found to be a poor solution. IR spectroscopy was found to provide a good estimate of the leaf water content when using broad spectrum spectroscopy with partial least squares regression fitting (R2=0.95). Normalized indices comparing reflectance between 1080 nm and 1200 nm (R1080R1200) and between 1250 nm and 1450 nm (R1250R1450) were found to provide strong correlations (R2=0.90) with the commonly measured equivalent water thickness (EWT) and to provide reasonable (R2= 0.70) correlation with the leaf water pressure as measured by pressure bomb.

Description:

M.S. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2016.Includes bibliographical references.